Court adjourns when Oscar becomes too emotional to go on

Oscar Pistorius cried so much while describing how he found Reeva Steenkamp in his toilet that the court had to adjourn. His crying could be heard clearly throughout the court.

Oscar Pistorius cried so much while describing how he found Reeva Steenkamp in his toilet that the court had to adjourn. His crying could be heard clearly throughout the court.

His sister, Aimee, went to him immediately when the court adjourned, with their brother, Carl, close on her heels. They hugged him in the witness stand before leaving the room with him.

Aimee cries during her brother's testimony of events on the night that he killed Reeva. PHOTO: Kim Ludbrook/EPA/Pool

Reeva’s mother, June Steenkamp, didn’t display much emotion. After the court adjourned she talked to the people sitting beside her.

Oscar testified that all the way to the bathroom he’d shouted for Reeva to call the police. He also called for the person, who he thought was an intruder, to come out of the bathroom. In the bathroom Oscar found the window open and the door to the toilet closed. “I (in the bathroom) didn’t know where to aim the gun. I fired shots at the door. I heard a soft voice but thought it was the intruder wanting to come out.

'I heard a soft voice but thought it was the intruder wanting to come out'

“I again shouted for Reeva to call the police.”

When Oscar received no answer from Reeva he walked back to the bedroom, with his gun still pointed at the bathroom.

At his bed he continued to talk to Reeva. With the gun trained on the passage he felt for Reeva on the right side of the bed. She wasn’t there. He tried feeling for her on the ground because perhaps she was there; he’d earlier told her to get down on the floor.

“I began to realise it could be Reeva in the toilet.”

Oscar then felt the balcony curtain in case Reeva was hiding there. She wasn’t.

He ran to the bathroom and felt the door. It was locked.

He returned to the bedroom and went onto the balcony to call for help.

Oscar put on his prostheses and ran to the bathroom. He tried kicking open the door but that didn’t work.

“I’ve never shouted or cried so much. I cried for God to help me. I cried for Reeva.”

Oscar grabbed the cricket bat and smashed the door. He took the keys, which were on the inside of the door, and unlocked the door. That’s when he found Reeva in the toilet cubicle.

“I don’t know how long I stood there.”

That’s when Oscar started crying.

After the court had reconvened Advocate Barry Roux SC asked if the court could be adjourned until the next morning because Oscar couldn’t be expected to continue today.